Series of slays sows terror in province anew

NEGROS Oriental folk have been gripped with fear anew by a series of killings since the start of the year reminiscent of deadly gun attacks in the province in 2019, the Journal Group learned.

Many of the incidents wherein the victims were shot inside their homes in the wee hours of the day have yet to be solved by the Negros Oriental Police Provincial Office.

Since January, the office has been very busy putting up different special investigation task groups to look into the killings and see if they were driven by any of the following motives: political, business rivalry, old grudge or perpetrated by the communist New Peoples’ Army.

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, General Rodolfo S. Azurin Jr. is set to visit the province this week to have a close look at the situation in the area and assess results of the local police force’s ongoing campaign against loose firearms, partisan armed groups and organized crime gangs, the NPA and guns-for-hire operating in Negros Oriental.

In July 2019 , Negros Oriental became the scene of a string of shooting incidents that killed 17 civilians and four policemen prompting then President Rodrigo Duterte to order a massive anti-criminality crackdown in the province.

\PRO7 director, Brigadier General Jerry F. Bearis has taken notice of the spate of gun attacks in Negros Oriental and has ordered a strengthened crime prevention and police operations in the province.

Last February 8, still unidentified gunmen killed a 45-year old Danish national, his Filipina wife and another woman accused of having a role in the killing of the younger brother of Valencia, Negros Oriental Mayor Edgar Teves Jr. two days earlier.

Tim Moerch, his wife Karen Kate and Maila Cagas, 40, were shot to death amid the ongoing investigation into the murder of 42-year-old Don Paulo Teves.

The body of the young Teves was dumped near a dumpster in Purok 3 in Barangay Calayugan early morning of February 6. The victim was found with a bullet wound to the head.

Local policemen arrested Moerch, Cagas and a 3rd suspect identified as John Edward Remollo in the wake of the ongoing probe into the Teves murder case. However, shortly after Moerch and Cagas were ordered released for further investigation by a local prosecutor who questioned the validity of their arrest, gunmen struck again.

Moerch and his wife were riding a motorcycle when killed in Bgy. Balugo. Cagas was also shot in another place by an unidentified suspect minutes later. There is still no information on what happened to Remollo.

The Negros Oriental PPO headed by Colonel Reynaldo L. Lizardo said the suspects were arrested in a hot pursuit operations. The killing of the three has sparked another police investigation which is still ongoing as of press time.

The following are the other shooting incidents which have taken place in the province this month:

# On February 26, four unidentified motorcycle-riding gunmen shot Teotimo Sisoy Jr., a 47-year-old resident of Bgy, Cabang, Jimalaulud during an attack in Bgy. Amdus in Ayungon town. The suspects remain at-large.

# Last February 17, two motorcycle-riding assassins shot to death a still unidentified man in Bgy. Albiga, Siaton municipality then escaped.

# Last February 15, an unknown motorcycle-riding gunman shot and seriously wounded 42-year old Joey Villamor in Bgy. Poblacion,Tayasan. The victim was driving his van on his way home when shot in the right upper jaw.

# Last February 7, an unidentified assassin killed Rio Siason,41, as he was having his lunch inside his house in Sitio Cotcot in Purok 3, Bgy. Bongalonan, Basay municipality. Local policemen found the victim lying on the ground with a gunshot wound to the head. A spent caliber .45 cartridge was recovered at the crime scene.

# Last January 25, still unidentified gunmen shot Artemio Estrebella, a 60-year-old kagawad of Bgy. Minaba in Bayawan City and his companion Ricky Maribao,45, then fled.

# On February 19, a shooting incident along Peping Gamo Street in Bgy. Tinago, Bayawan City, Negros Oriental killed Patrolman Rhulin Abrasaldo of the PRO7 Regional Mobile Group and Edwin Laag, a member of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology in the city. A civilian identified as Winchita Jamin was also wounded in the attack which took place at the height of a fiesta celebration in the area.

The cop and the BJMP personnel reportedly responded when the suspects shot Jamin. However, investigators are yet to say if the two were able to return fire at the killers.

In the major cases mentioned, police have applied for a Warrant to Disclose Computer Data on CCTV cameras of establishments located near the place of the gun attacks and have requested a ballistics and cross-matching examination of slugs and casings found at the crime scenes.